According to an INSEE report published on 4th December unemployment has increased in France for the third consecutive quarter. It now totals 10.4% of the working population in comparison with 10.1% in the second quarter. In mainland France unemployment totals 9.9% and has increased by 0.2 points in comparison with the previous quarter. Young people have been particularly affected by this increase with an unemployment rate of 23.7%.

Growth slowed in November in the euro zone to its lowest level in a year and a half which calls for "the immediate introduction of a more aggressive revival policy by the European Central Bank", deemed Markit on 3rd December as it published the PMI index. The euro zone's composite PMI index lay at 51.1 points in November against 52.1 points in the previous month. It is now at its lowest level since July 2013.

The Greek Parliament approved the draft 2015 budget on 7th December, 155 votes in support, 134 against. This budget is the focus of a disagreement between Greece's creditors (IMF, EU, ECB), who are demanding additional measures in support of government deficit reductions and the government whose project notably plans for the relaxing of reimbursement conditions regarding Greek citizens' debt towards the state. To MPs Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that by presenting the draft budget he had "rejected the IMF and EU's demands". The ECB, the European Commission and the IMF are asking the Greek government to find between 2 to 3 billion € in additional revenues. The draft budget is to be approved by Parliament without the "Troika's" agreement which might prevent Greece from receiving the final tranche of aid of 1.8 billion €, of enjoying a line of credit after the end of the programme and of returning to the capital markets. The Greek Finance Minister said however that "a possible extension" of the aid plan will be discussed during a Eurogroup meeting on 8th December in Brussels.

As part of its "monitoring mission" the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report on the economic, financial and budgetary situation in Latvia on 5th December. According to the IMF Latvia has progressed quickly since the beginning of the economic crisis, as shown by its successful entry into the euro zone and the decreasing nature of its unemployment levels from over 20% to 11.3% and then to 10.6% this year. However economic growth has slowed recently due to low investments and an unfavourable external environment. According to the report the country's outlook mid-term is positive if the geopolitical situation in the east of Europe stabilises and the euro zone economy improves. The report advocates a reversal of the multi-annual trend to pay off bank debt to revive long term investment and to speed up structural reform. Finally the IMF believes that the budget for 2015 is "adequate" even though it highlights that the government has to do more to reduce social inequality.

On 28th November the French, German and Italian Finance Ministers sent a letter to the Commission to encourage the EU to pass legislation on tax avoidance. The three ministers notably asked Pierre Moscovici, the Commissioner responsible for taxation, to ensure that the draft directive to counter tax avoidance (fiscal ruling) is ready by the end of the year. The fiscal ruling means that a company can ask in advance how it will be processed by the tax authorities in a country so that it can spread its costs and profits advantageously between branches in different countries. Pierre Moscovici answered on 3rd December promising to act rapidly. He announced in a letter that he will suggest a roadmap in 2015 to the College of Commissioners in order to identify the necessary tools to counter damaging tax competition. Priority will be placed on increasing transparency, and also the fight to counter tax havens.

On 5th December the European Commission put forward German Elke König to become director of the Single Resolution Board of the banks in the euro zone, which is responsible for managing the liquidation of failing banks. Elke König is presently the director of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The SRB is one of the key elements in the Single Supervisory Mechanism created by the ECB, which is to supervise the banks in the euro zone. Moreover on 1st December Jean-Claude Juncker appointed Ann Mettler as leader of the new European Political Strategy Centre. The latter replaced, as of 5th November 2014, the European Bureau of Policy Advisors.

On 4th and 5th December the 28 Justice Ministers met in Brussels and concluded a general approach towards the protection of data in the European Union. They also approved a political agreement with the European Parliament on measures pertaining to cross-border insolvency procedures as well as a general approach on two proposals on the presumption of innocence and criminal proceedings and a regulation amending the European order for payment regulation. They also adopted guidelines for an EU strategy to counter radicalisation and terrorist recruitment and agreed on the urgent need to adopt the directive on the use of passenger data for the prevention of terrorist activities. They welcomed the progress made by operational action identified by the working group for the Mediterranean as well as operation Triton, launched at the beginning of November 2014 by Frontex.

On 4th and 5th December the 28 European ministers responsible for industry met as part of the "Competitiveness Council" and adopted several conclusions on the "challenges and opportunities" given to European industry focusing on the role played by SMEs and tourism. They adopted a general approach on the revision of the Package Travel Directive that governs the tourism industry. Moreover they discussed the means to strengthen the internal market by adopting conclusions on three main issues: smart regulation, customs risk management to facilitate trade and the application of intellectual property rights. They confirmed their general approach for the modernisation of security requirements on personal protective equipment and cableway installations. Finally from the point of view of research and innovation Ministers approved the conclusions on the progress achieved in the implementation of the European Research Area, the improvement of European competitiveness and Mediterranean cooperation. They also adopted conclusions on the main guidelines and challenges in support of a renewed European space policy.

The policy undertaken by Moscow is leading to problems for many countries in the European Union's neighbourhood said German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she gave an interview on 7th December to the daily newspaper Die Welt. "Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are three countries in our eastern neighbourhood which have sovereignly signed an association agreement with the European Union. Russia is causing problems in all three of these countries," declared Ms Merkel. She also said that the reforms started by France and Italy were not enough. The European Commission has "established a timetable whereby France and Italy will have to put forward additional measures. This is justified since both countries are effectively undertaking reforms. But the Commission has also clearly said that to date that not enough has been done and I agree with this."

On 6th December the President of the Republic of France François Hollande travelled to Moscow following his trip to Kazakhstan to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. He is the first western leader to travel to Russian since the start of the Ukrainian crisis. The aim of this meeting set since the G20 in Brisbane, Australia, was to find paths of reconciliation over the Ukrainian issue. Whilst Vladimir Putin spoke of the territorial integrity of Ukraine the French President recalled that time was of the essence and that "results" now had to be achieved and not simple "progress" regarding this matter. A cease-fire was announced following the declaration that peace talks were to resume as of 9th December in Minsk.

On 2nd December the Ukrainian Parliament approved the new government team led by Arseny Yatsenyuk. Most of the most important ministers were reappointed, likewise those in Defence and Foreign Affairs. But there are also new ministers including three foreigners: Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko, an American of Ukrainian origin, Economy Minister, Aïvaras Arbomavitshous, is Lithuanian and Healthcare Minister Sandro Kvitashvili, who is Georgian. The government comprises 20 members of whom 2 are women.

On 2nd December 2014 the Foreign Ministers from NATO's member states announced that an interim "spearhead" force - designed to strengthen the Alliance's response capabilities would be operational at the beginning of next year and they agreed to maintain their continued presence in the east throughout the coming year. "We shall implement a readiness for action plan in time and across the board," explained NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"Healthcare at a Glance, Europe 2014" published on 3rd December by the OECD and the European Commission assesses the quality of access to healthcare according to financial (reimbursements) and also geographical (distance between the hospital/doctor and the patient) criteria and waiting times in the 28 countries of the EU. The report points to an overall reduction in healthcare spending in the EU between 2009 and 2012, (0.6% per year on average, after annual increases of 4.7% between 2000 and 2009). However most countries in the EU have a universal or almost universal healthcare system "which have enabled the protection of access to basic care" even in the countries hardest hit by the crisis like Greece or Portugal notes the OECD. We should note that geographical access issues or waiting times have worsened since the start of the crisis in 2009. Finally according to estimates in the report life expectancy has risen sharply in the EU since the 1990's lying at 79.2 in 2012, i.e. 5.1 years more than in 1990.

In spite of an unfavourable economic situation investments in R&D by businesses based in the EU increased by 2.6% in 2013. However this increase is clearly below that of 6.8% recorded in 2012. This pace is also below the world average in 2013 (4.9 %) and that of businesses based in the US (5%) and Japan (5.5 %). It should be noted that of businesses based in the EU, 97% of investments in R&D come from companies based in 10 countries. Overall performances depend largely on businesses based in three countries: Germany, France and the UK, which represent two thirds of European investments. The "EU's Industrial Investment Scoreboard 2014", which analyses the 2,500 major firms worldwide, was released on 4th December by the European Commission.

On 2nd December the German organisation Transparency International published its annual report on the perception of corruption. This report gives a score to each country between 0 (the most corrupt country) and a 100 (the most transparent) according to the perception of their performance in the fight to counter corruption. Turkey and China have fallen the most this year. In the EU, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and also Italy are at the bottom of the ranking, whilst Denmark is the most transparent country in the world. Germany comes 12th, the US 17th and France 26th. Last in the ranking come South Sudan, Afghanistan, Sudan, North Korea and Somalia.

The "Institut de l'Entreprise" published a report: "Espagne, derrière l'austerité, la reprise" (Spain, behind austerity, recovery) by Adrienne Brotons, prefaced by Michel Pébereau. This report is the first in a series entitled "Consolidation budgétaire et redressement économique en Europe" (Fiscal consolidation and economic recovery in Europe), which aims to analyse real examples of fiscal consolidation undertaken in Europe since the start of the crisis. The report focuses on Spain, notably in view of the extent of budgetary fiscal achieved and the reforms that have been launched, but also in view of the major role played by Europe as the stimulus for the reform in the project to modernise Spain. The other countries selected for this project were the UK, Ireland and Italy. These countries all share a point in common. Due to events born of the crisis each has committed to extensive fiscal consolidation.

Until 2016 the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam is running an exhibition entitled "The Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age" which presents the members of the "golden Dutch bourgeoisie" of the 17th and 18th centuries. This collection of major group portraits includes some of Rembrandts works, such as "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Deijman", and also paintings by Govert Flinck and Nicolaes Pickenoy.

Until 14th June 2015 the Pierre Gianadda Foundation, Martigny (Switzerland) is hosting an "exceptional, exclusive, unique" collection of the most famous paintings created in Switzerland. The exhibition presents historic, genre and landscape paintings and also those depicting animals, still life, symbolism in Swiss art, the nude, children in painting, portraits, self-portraits. On show are works by artists ranging from 1762 to the middle of the 20th century. The most famous works and the rarest by Albert Anker, Ferdinand Hodler, Felix Vallotton and Giovanni Segantini, will be on show exceptionally thanks to partnerships with the Fine Arts Museum of Bern and the Foundation for Art, Culture and History.

The Martin Gropius Museum in Berlin is running an exhibition on the Vkhutemas, often designated as the "Russian Bauhaus", the legendary school of modernist art in the 1920's until 6th April 2015. This is the first exhibition in Germany that shows a major sample - especially focused on architecture - of work by Vkhutemas. The exhibition presents some 250 pieces of work: sketches, drawings, paintings and models. The exhibition was set up by the State Museum Shchusev of Moscow.

The Fine Arts Museum in Nancy is running an exhibition until 23rd February 2015 which is devoted to the Rouart Impressionist collection. Via portraits, landscapes and still life the public is invited to discover the extraordinary adventure of this family of artists and collectors which was linked to Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot. Nearly 130 works from public and many private collections have been brought together for this exhibition.